Last week I noted the varying media reports on the WNBA's recent TV ratings.

TV ratings may be the best way to measure broad interest in the league. Of course, single data points or simple comparisons can be misleading, because game ratings vary widely depending, among other things, on: (1) which network the game is on, (2) what the lead-in show is, (3) what other networks have on in that slot, and (4) whether the teams playing are from large or small markets.

But if you had regular and complete information, you could filter out the noise and get a good sense of the secular trends.

Unfortunately, it's difficult to find regular and complete information. Nielsen Media is responsible for the ratings, and it doesn't generally make them public because if it did, no one would pay for them.

The league knows its own ratings, but it doesn't generally release them either. Like any other sports league (or just about any other business, for that matter), it maintains a public face of perpetual optimism.

Which means: they generally only release ratings numbers if the numbers look good.

When the press release says, "The Detroit Shock's victory over the Los Angeles Sparks in Game 3 of the WNBA Finals on Tuesday night produced the highest overnight rating ever for one of the league's games on ESPN2," you can get excited about fabulous news.

Or you can get depressed that the ratings for Game 1 of the same series were abysmal, and the even the ratings for Game 3 were far below the ratings from earlier years on different networks.

Armed with my new all-access Lexis password, I set out to find every piece of publicly released WNBA TV ratings info. For the first five years, the league released the average regular season game ratings. Here they are for ESPN and NBC (as reported by the USA Today on 8/28/00 and the SA Express-News on 3/19/02):

Thursday, September 29, 2005

Via Str8Butta: Shameka Christon talks about her second year in the pros: "When I talk to people who call me from back in Arkansas, they say I sound like I'm from New York. I haven't forgotten where I came from, you guys."

Ethologists (animal-behavior experts) have found that red signals aggression or dominance in some nonhuman mammals; these studies looked for this effect in humans. Sports examined included European soccer and Olympic wrestling, boxing, and tae kwon do, which means the sample included at least some women.

In more color-wheel news, some Iowa profs and students want to repaint the locker room used by visiting football teams, which has been kept pink for decades (to embarrass, calm, or symbolically emasculate the Hawkeyes' opponents). A recent remodeling left the room pinker than ever.

Also, now that the Storm are no longer reigning champs, the blog formerly known as "Defending the Title" is now called "Chasing the Title." Check it out for some good statistical analysis of how the Storm got worse from '04 to '05.

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Shawntinice Polk died as a result of deep vein thrombosis, a condition resulting from the formation of a blood clot (thrombus) inside a deep vein, commonly located in the calf or thigh. One of the clots traveled to her lungs and caused a sudden cardiac death, according to the county medical examiner.

Polk was a dominant post player and a three-time honorable mention All-American. She was named to the Pac-10's first team all three years she played. This year she made the preseason lists for both the Wooden and Wade awards.

LJ's Australian league team, the Canberra Capitals, suffered when she didn't play last year, missing the playoffs and seeing attendance decline. Canberra hoops exec Mark Cartwright says not to worry: "the same thing happened with Chicago when Michael Jordan was injured for a season and Manchester United without David Beckham."

Carrie Graf, who will coach LJ in Canberra, speaks out on her departure from Phoenix: "When you finish a season in the WNBA and your contract doesn't get renewed that's not the best fun, but it's the coaching game... Fortunately for me I'd already chosen to take the Caps job and it couldn't have worked out better to come back here and have something good come out of something not so good."

1. Kicked balls. On a kicked ball, if there are fewer than 15 seconds remaining on the shot clock, the shot clock will only reset to 15. This makes the NCAA rules start to conform a little more to the pros.

2. Disqualification substitutions. When a player fouls out, a team will only have 20 seconds (formerly 30) to replace her. This is to prevent coaches from using that time as a de facto timeout.

3. Monitors. There are several changes to the rules governing the refs' use of courtside monitors. One change to Rule 2-5 will allow refs to put time back on the clock after using the monitor to determine when a foul was committed or when a shot passed through the cylinder. Interestingly, the new rules still won't fix the problem we saw in the 'Bama-LSU game last year.

Points of Emphasis:

1. Displacement. The Rules Committee has attempted (again) to clarify what counts as a foul through a series of norms on "displacement." There are specific guidelines set forth for guarding in the post, guarding on the perimeter, guarding cutters, rebounding, and screening.

It doesn't appear that the Committee is trying to tighten or loosen anything; rather, they're just trying to state the existing rules more clearly.

2. Bench Decorum. The Committee has directed the refs to call more technicals and listed several specific areas of emphasis. A variety of conduct -- including "excessively demonstrating officiating signals" such as traveling -- is supposed to draw a technical.

Somewhat ridiculously, the Committee has also ordered that players and assistant coaches must remain seated during the game. There is an exception made for "spontaneous" celebrations in reaction to "outstanding plays," so long as the player returns to her seat "immediately."

I can imagine it now: "Technical foul on the bench player who stood up and cheered that free throw. A completed free throw is not an outstanding play. Plus, you didn't sit down fast enough."

Experiments:

The NCAA will test two new rules in certified games played before January 1: the longer (20' 6") three-point line, and the 10-second backcourt violation.

Sunday, September 25, 2005

Sac Bee letters "praise the Bee for increasing its Monarchs coverage" and strike back at "sourpuss" columnist Bretón.

Davis, Ca. reader Keitie Jones: "There are many more fans out there than Mr. Bretón believes. Today, after attending the amazing Monarchs game, I went to the grocery store wearing my Monarchs jersey. Within 10 minutes, five strangers stopped to talk to me about the game and the team."

Three months ago, the San Jose Mercury News published an investigative report exposing allegations of misconduct against Santa Clara head coach Michelle Bento-Jackson. The report claimed that Jackson had treated her players badly and that her husband had sexually harassed some of them. Santa Clara announced plans to fire her.

For better or worse, the reason for the reversal is unclear. Neither the school nor the coach will comment further, so we don't know whether they decided to keep her because the allegations were proven false, or whether they decided that the misconduct wasn't serious enough to warrant termination, or whether they just didn't want to face a lawsuit and a buyout.

On Thursday, Merc columnist Ann Killion tore into the school, calling its handling of the situation a "travesty" and claiming that it deserves to be "a national laughingstock." She suggests that Santa Clara ultimately decided to sweep the whole thing under the rug.

But the right answer is that in many ways the WNBA already has equaled the success of the college game.

The worst team in the WNBA this year, the Charlotte Sting, not coincidentally had the worst attendance: 5,768, according to Kim Callahan (warning: PDF).

Among the few hundred schools that play NCAA Division I women's hoops, how many attracted more fans per game than Charlotte? Sixteen. How many of them had losing records? Just one: Wisconsin.

Of course, published numbers can be unreliable, especially in the pros. On the other hand, college teams can boost their numbers simply because they tend to play on college campuses, and students (rightly) get much cheaper tickets, not to mention convenient transportation to and from games (often, the sidewalk between arena and dorm). So the distortions, if that's what they are, work both ways.

Among teams that finished the WNBA season over .500, the team with the worst attendance was the Houston Comets, who seem never to have recovered (in terms of fan support) from their move to the Toyota Center. The Comets claim 7,099 fans per game.

Defending (now former) champions Seattle claimed 8,891 fans per game, and full lower bowls on TV prove those fans showed up. Just five women's college teams do better, including Connecticut and Tennessee.

The WNBA has been around for nine years, and most of their teams have no historic connection to their communities except (as with the Monarchs, Sparks and Liberty) the connection that grows from long-cherished NBA partners.

The colleges whose women's hoops teams post numbers anything like what the WNBA publishes, or numbers like what most WNBA teams (not Charlotte, perhaps, but Houston and San Antonio) actually deliver to summer arenas, have been around for over 100 years. Four of the top twelve have won it all since 1998; eight have been to the Final Four.

And fans love wins. Those winning colleges depend for some of those wins on the existence of schools few people follow, schools they always beat: major-conference doormats, local nonconference opponents who always lose to crosstown rivals in November, teams that fill up slots 13 to 16 in the brackets every March.

WNBA teams have no such guaranteed pleasures. As players and coaches like to say, on any given day, "any team in the league can beat any other team in the league." Even Charlotte.

(When you take location into account, the W looks even better. The top college women's team in a large urban market, with competition from major-league pro men's teams, is Minnesota, at 9,020 fans per game in the year after a Final Four, or almost exactly what Seattle attracted the year after a WNBA title, in a metro area of the same size. After Minnesota comes Ohio State, at 5,143: their competition is the NHL's Blue Jackets, who did not play last year. After the Buckeyes come the University of Maryland, at 4,189, or 72% of a Charlotte Sting crowd.)

College teams draw superbly when the team wins a lot, or has won a lot recently (Wisconsin used to be a fearsome team); when there are few competing entertainment options; and when they can claim to represent their region, or their state, i.e. they're a state school with many local alums. (If then: North Carolina puts up mysteriously abysmal attendance for a superb women's team.)

WNBA teams draw when they win, and in big metro areas with lots of transplants or many competing schools, WNBA teams (like pro men's teams in any sport) have as good a claim as any one school to represent the city as a whole. (Absence of baseball helps, too. #@%$ Washington Nationals.)

And people who fear that our girls syndrome (or anything else) will keep the W from attracting college-game numbers are making at least one serious mistake: they're comparing a few selected, historic successes (from the college game) to a whole league (winners, losers, mediocrities), and then asking why the very top of one class outperforms the entirety of the other. Compare apples to apples, regular season to regular season, even college reg-season to WNBA playoffs, and the W looks OK.

Playoff to playoff-- or rather, NCAA national tournament to WNBA playoffs-- it may be a different story. More on that one soon.

Friday, September 23, 2005

ESPN Page 2's Graham Hays responded, "You're tired of having the WNBA forced down your throat? You would be content to ignore the league, if only the folks on television would let you? Welcome to the United States, the line for complaints forms to the right."

SI.com's Jay Mohr fired the next salvo, titled, "I Don't Love This Game". The column added weight to the argument that Mohr has not been funny since Saturday Night Live. He referred to WNBA fans as 'flannel jacketed, motorcycle boot-clad' 'brutes' who 'intimidated' him and his buddies. Once he fled to the empty upper bowl to escape the 'lumberjacks', he 'almost' enjoyed the game by 'getting loaded', squinting a lot, and 'pretending the players were men'. It was not Mohr's finest hour.

Yesterday, Pat Griffin fired back in an editorial for Outsports titled 'What is Mohr Afraid Of?' A professor of social justice education at the University of Massachusetts, Griffin authored Strong Women, Deep Closets: Lesbians and Homophobia in Sport, and consults for the Women’s Sports Foundation's 'It Takes a Team! Making Sports Safe for Lesbian and Gay Athletes'.

As ESPN's Hays wrote, "You're entitled to not like the WNBA. You're even entitled to dislike the WNBA. But do it for reasons that go beyond lame jokes, misogynistic insecurities and tired talking points."

The Aussie WNBL season starts soon. New Zealand's national team, the Tall Ferns, just finished a preseason tournament in Australia with discouraging results, beating only Perth's (historically dreadful) Lynx.

Aussie coverage of the WNBA finals focused on Sun rookie reserve Laura Summerton, even though she barely played in the series.

On her Louisiana ties: ""Everyone got out. What my family lost was all materialistic and can be replaced.''

On high school commitments: ""When you're an athlete in high school, there is so much focus on where you're rated and who is recruiting you, and I've learned that it just doesn't mean that much. The most important thing that I tell every kid is that they have to give as much time to their studies as they do to their jump shot or anything else on the basketball court.''

Johnson not only earned her LSU degree, but began work on an M.A. last year. Coach Pokey on Johnson: "No one talks about it, but when she came here, she wasn't a qualifier. She couldn't practice with the team. She had to pay her own way, and she lived with relatives. That's a pretty big thing to have taken away. But she built herself up and elevated the program to an elite status.''

According to pilight, Kristen Haynie is the first-ever athlete to play in an NCAA championship game and a WNBA championship series in the same year

In the NCAAs, Haynie herself played brilliantly, but her team got crushed.

Now she's a champion. Haynie: "To play for two championships in one year is pretty special. This one turned out a lot better."

She's one of the few Monarchs who won't play winter Euroball: Haynie hasn't had three weeks without hoops since last September. "My body needs a rest," she says.

Also in Sacramento, the Bee's Voisin praises the series and offers advice to the league and its fans:

1. Get neglectful owners (Los Angeles, this means you) to pay attention, or find new owners who will. 2. Hire competent coaches (male or female), not necessarily famous ones. 3. Don't worry about the reffing, which has been improving. 4. "Consider charter flights for the playoffs," despite their expense. 5. Put more games on TV.

Voisin says the high-energy, marketing-savvy Donna Orender is just what the W needs. Asked about TV schedules this summer, Orender replied: "We want more [games on TV] too!"

It's probably worth your time (and it's pretty short, too) if you take any interest in rec-league or playground ball; if you coach pre-teens, or wonder what it's like to coach them; or if you like brief, moving and well-written memoirs. It's also oddly bisected-- it feels like reading two books.

The first two-thirds describe King's Arkansas childhood, her post-collegiate aspiration to move to a big city and play more ball, and her stints in Chicago and California, where she feels somewhat lost in urban environments but comes to love life in various playgrounds and gyms.

These pages feel somewhat scattered, as if an editor had pared them down, but they've also got cool scenes and anecdotes from pickup games: King overcomes her own prejudices, watches other folks try to overcome theirs, and hits some big shots. If you like John Edgar Wideman's poetic prose about playground ball, you'll probably like King's more concise, less ambitious, work on some of the same themes.

The best part for me, though, came when she moved back to Arkansas and began coaching fourth-grade after-school ball. These chapters give her more than one continuing character; subplots about her kids' lives rather than her own; and concerns for people who aren't herself.

They also yield funny remarks: "there is no outside shot in fourth-grade basketball," which means that when one of her charges sinks a long jumper, she has to spend some time and emotion telling that child not to take that shot whenever she's open. (Some fans of the pro game may know the feeling.) From a background of not much (her Bible appears to be the Baffled Parents' Guide) King becomes an emotionally engaged, and an appropriate, afterschool coach for these kids.

King appears to be one of those participation-is-everything athletes who either doesn't much enjoy watching a game in which she's not involved, or doesn't much enjoy writing about such games afterwards: she shares Wideman's unease about well-paid NBA'ers, and other than a pleasant aside about Holdsclaw, doesn't say much about NCAA women's ball, let alone the W. If it didn't happen to King, it's not in her book: that's not a problem, it's just the kind of book she wrote. I suspect her next book will be a non-basketball memoir, rather than a non-memoir basketball book: she writes well enough that I might read it anyway.

Jayda Evans reported earlier this month that ratings were up around 40% for both regular season and playoffs.

(What she actually wrote was: "More people are tuned in to the regular-season games aired on ESPN2, and the same 40 percent increase occurred for the first-round playoff matchups this week." Perhaps that was intentionally ambiguous.)

Liz Robbins at the Times (in an article no longer available for free) reported on September 13 that ratings were "the same" for the regular season but up 20% for the playoffs.

The Finals announcers talked (a lot) about DeMya Walker's step-through move and how it's legal. The traveling rules are byzantine, and I get dizzy reading them, but I think the announcers were only half right.

c. In starting a dribble after (1) receiving the ball while standing still, or (2) coming to a legal stop, the ball must be out of the player’s hand before the pivotfoot is raised off the floor.

d. If a player, with the ball in her possession, raises her pivot foot off the floor, she must pass or shoot before her pivot foot returns to the floor. If she drops the ball while in the air, she may not be the first to touch the ball.

That means that you can't lift your pivot foot before dribbling, but you can lift it before shooting and passing. In fact, if shooting or passing, it's not a travel until your pivot foot hits the floor again. Thus, if your right foot is your pivot foot, you can take a big step and jump off the left.

So to the extent DeMya just did that, she was within the rules. But... during the Finals, she repeatedly traveled before going into the move, either by switching her pivot foot, failing to establish it properly, or sliding it.

"My phone keeps ringing off the hook from reporters in Portugal," said Ticha Penicheiro, a Portugal native. "Newspapers, TV, radio; it's nonstop. The (Tuesday) game was on live, and usually women's basketball gets no notice at all. But now, everybody knows the Monarchs."

Given its deep roster, Sacramento will have some tough calls when it comes to the Expansion Draft. Coach Whiz says he may try to offer Chicago a draft pick rather than giving up one of his current players.

Mike Anthony reports that the Sun are expected to protect Lindsay Whalen, Katie Douglas, Taj McWilliams-Franklin, Margo Dydek, Asjha Jones and Brooke Wyckoff for the expansion draft, and that they will sign Sales to a two-year max deal.

Ned Griffen says the Sun mostly just need to stay the course. “I think we're every bit as talented as Sacramento,” coach Thibault said. “As far as assessing what we need to do in the future, I think we need to keep kind of doing what we have done."

Jeff Jacobs argues that Whalen probably shouldn't have played because she "borderline stunk out the joint."

"It's just a dream come true," said center Yolanda Griffith, the unanimous MVP. "We overcame so much - the injuries, the doubters."

"I feel like I'm having an out-of-body experience," Joe Maloof said. "This is great for the fans, great for the city. This is a wonderful story. They are the best athletes. They really deserve this. They brought a title to Sacramento."

Underneath a purple haze of confetti, there were Maloofs running along the press table, Monarchs dancing on the podium, an emotion-soaked, near-sellout crowd erupting in frenzy, absorbing and savoring it all. How loud was that celebration? How long was the wait?

Connecticut, dejected, prepared for the long flight home.

"We know what this stuff sounds like, and we found out last year what this feels like," Katie Douglas said. "It's an awful feeling to have such a great season end this way."

Taj fumed about the refs, especially the call against her with 10 seconds left. "[E]very one of these games was close and could have (had) the outcomes decided by a call or two. And Mr. Enterline made a lot of calls that could be seen as questionable," she said. "I just hope Mr. Enterline looks at the game and sees what he called."

Coach Thibault mourned the last shot, which drew no rim. "It was drawn up for (Sales), but we didn't execute it very well... It wasn't the look we wanted. I thought we'd get a better shot."

Sacramento opened the second half with a 17-5 blitz and held the Sun to 1-for-12 shooting in the first 7:30 after intermission. Griffith overcame a -9 first half by scoring eight points to key that run. The Monarchs' offensive success hinged on the '3' position in this series, tallying 69.1 points per 40 with Powell on the floor (136 minutes) and just 45.7 per 40 with Maiga (28)...

Connecticut built an 11-point, first-half advantage behind the bench contributions of Jones, Wyckoff, Derevjanik and Carey, all of whom were at least +5 after 20 minutes. However, for the second consecutive game, all five Sun starters finished in the minus category. For the series, Connecticut's starting quintet was outscored by a 80-62 margin in 41:40 of action...

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

It was another tight game that went down to the final possession. Neither team shot well and the play wasn't beautiful, but it was still an exciting conclusion to an exciting series. Though I was hoping for a Game 5, I can't complain about seeing Yo get the title and the MVP in front of her hometown fans.

The new five-game series format was a huge success. I think in the past people have worried that there isn't enough interest to sustain a long series. That reasoning, however, gets it partly backwards: interest builds as a playoff series goes on, and a longer series can create its own momentum.

Cheers to ESPN for staying with the postgame celebration, which cut a half hour into Baseball Tonight. Given that we're in the midst of some very tight playoff races, that was no small sacrifice. Next year, they should just schedule the half hour. WNBA playoff games don't fit into 2 hours anyway, even without the postgame.

Strangest bit of Game 4 commentary: Geno and Doris gushing about how great the quality of point guard play is in the WNBA. Which league are they watching?

The folks on TV also talked lots about Whalen's ineffectiveness. True enough... but give Chelsea Newton and the other Sacto defenders a little credit.

All in all, it was a great series capping off a good year for the league. More tomorrow...

"We realize that it isn't going to get any easier," Nykesha Sales said, "and realize that you can't hope teams come out not ready to play. You definitely have to bring your A game."

“Who wants to go back to Connecticut?” Yolanda Griffith joked. “I don't. If it just so happens that we do lose the game, we just have to stay focused and go into Connecticut and get that one. Were not going to settle. We want the championship."

(Correction from yesterday: it wasn't the Sun who made Lindsay Whalen unavailable after Game 3. She was just unavailable.)

Monday, September 19, 2005

The Times gets greedy and stupid: as of today, the New York Times has put much of its content behind a $50 per year door. The premium content will include not only op-ed columnists but also most of the Times' best sports writers. So we'll no longer be able to read (or link to) Araton, Anderson, Roberts, et al.

"I guess I'm not a very good prognosticator because I thought we would play our best game in the series today and we played our worst," coach Thibault said. "You don't win any games when you give them 20 points on turnovers and 16 points on offensive rebounds. ... You don't win."

Whalen struggled: 2 points, 2 assists, 5 turnovers. Coach T says it's not just physical. Mike DiMauro says she's hurting her team by playing. (He also bristles at the Sun's decision to make her unavailable to the media.) It's unclear whether she'll play Game 4.

The Monarchs' starting and closing lineups fared equally well, with the first five outscoring Connecticut 23-16 in 12:26 of play, and the crunch-time quintet (Walker/Lawson replacing Brunson/Newton) piling up a 24-18 advantage in 13:11. Connecticut shot 8-for-14 (57.1%) and held a 10-5 rebounding edge in the 10:21 Griffith spent on the bench, compared to 13-for-38 (34.2%) shooting and a 27-20 board deficit with her on the floor...

Connecticut's reserve guards recorded the team's lone plus figures. Derevjanik has finished on the positive side in all three games thus far, and her +19 for the series is topped only by Griffith's +22. Meanwhile, the Sun's two primary lineups (1. starters; 2. Jones replacing Dydek) were outscored by a combined 39-23 in 19:28 of action. Connecticut missed its final nine shots from the field following Jones' basket at the 4:17 mark...

Whalen, who swelled up on the cross-country flight, will play. "It's back to better than it was before the flight," she said. "It's going to be a little sore, a little tender, but I should be good to go [today]."

The rest of the Sun try to pump the back ups' confidence. “Jen and Jamie stepped up huge,” Katie Douglas said. “Hopefully they both have confidence (in themselves), confidence in one another."

DiMauro giggles about Katie's Game Two mic-gaffe: “Did one of y'all just fart?” But apparently the Day can't print "fart."

Yo Griffith has a shiner from one of Dydek's famous elbows. "This series is a knock-down, drag-out battle," she said. "It's a heavyweight fight, and we're not backing down."

Absent the trade to Houston, she might have retired. "The situation in Houston was refreshing," she told the Charlotte Observer. "I wasn't going to come back to a situation where it was going to be hard to prepare mentally every day.

In case you missed it, Taj shot an airball with 19 seconds left. The refs, apparently in disbelief that anyone could miss so badly, determined that it must have been deflected by Yo, who was contesting. So they gave the ball back to Connecticut. The replays showed their clear error.

But the Sun missed the next shot anyway, curing the error. If the call had gone the other way, the game would have played out completely differently. Maybe it would have been better for Connecticut (someone other than Lawson might have gotten the inbound, missed free throws, and Connecticut could have won in regulation). Or maybe it would have been better for Sacto (someone other than Wyckoff might have taken the Sun's final shot and missed).

And DeMya Walker knows it. "This is all my fault," she said of Wyckoff's three and the resulting loss. "There are no excuses. I have been playing in this league for six years. I have been programmed. I know when not to foul. It was just a stupid mistake."

"There was no reason when the ball went to Taj, where she could only make a two, that somebody would leave their player wide open," said coach Whisenant. "But it happened, and that's basketball."

"I had a feeling I might be open," Wyckoff said. "All I remember is seeing Taj look at me."

How did Brooke feel after? "First it was a feeling of relief (that) we were back in the game, and that I actually hit the shot and wasn't the dork that missed it at the end. This is what you play the game for is moments like that."

Whalen benched herself. "About [90 minutes before the game] I said I didn't think I could help," Whalen said. "When it comes to that situation, as a player, it's your responsibility to sit down. ... With my knee, I knew I could play. I knew I could contribute. With this, it's the situation where [Thursday night] isn't a night I could do that. You kind of realize your limitations."

Lawson doesn't worry too much about the boos from Connecticut fans. “Now if I was getting booed at home, I might be a little worried,” she laughed.

Graham Hays says that, with Whalen and Penicheiro hobbled, and with Taj and Yo already playing their best, some other players will have to step up to decide the series.

Egregious numbers from starters Penicheiro and Brunson stymied another solid effort from the Sacramento bench. Now that the Monarchs have suffered their first loss of the postseason, will Whisenant shuffle the lineup? The Walker/Griffith duo was +18 in regulation on Thursday, as Sacramento outscored Connecticut 55-37 in the 24:37 they were on the floor together before OT...

A shortened Sun rotation saw Dydek essentially left out, but she posted a +13 in just 10:25 of duty. Interesting move by Thibault in shifting many of those leftover minutes to Wyckoff rather than Jones, who is -12 in the series thus far. Connecticut has scored just 56 points in 41 minutes with Jones on the floor, compared to 86 points in the 44 minutes she's been on the bench...

Thursday, September 15, 2005

Everyone was pretty gassed by the end, leading to some sloppy late-game play. The teams combined for 3 for 15 shooting and a bunch of turnovers in overtime. It was only the third time in league history, regular season or postseaon, that a team had gone scoreless in OT.

And why DeMya Walker, up three points with four seconds remaining in regulation, left three-point specialist Brooke Wyckoff to double Taj in the lane is a mystery that could go unsolved for ages.

But despite the off-key finish, it was another excellent game between two evenly-matched teams; we have the making of a great series.

Last night's game was reffed by Tina Napier, Daryl Humphrey, and Mike Price. Tonight's crew was Lisa Mattingly, Bryan Enterline, and Sue Blauch. This game was called more tightly, especially in the first half, which put a damper on Sactown's physical defense. The Monarchs fought through the foul trouble but just couldn't put the game away.

The LPGA was dealing with the continuing "issues" of women's sports decades before the WNBA got started. Both organizations will be doing that for the foreseeable future. Those include the lesbian issue, the "should we market by using sex appeal" issue, the "how do we tap into corporate America more" issue and the "how do we get the mainstream media to cover us responsibly and professionally" issue.

The simplest way to compare the two finalists is to say that Connecticut has a better starting five but Sacramento is deeper. Last night's game showed the differences between the reserves, as the Monarchs bench was +3 while the Sun's bench was -19 (numbers from Paul).

"Nothing in life is guaranteed," Griffith said, "and I've been preaching that from Day 1. We're here this year, but we can finish last next year. So I keep telling my teammates, 'Be hungry.' This opportunity may come once."

And Sacto's all-around defensive effort was excellent, forcing the huge turnover differential. "Sometimes, basketball is very black and white to me," Thibault said. "Except for turnovers, we played pretty even. We gave this game away by turning over the ball."

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Game One was a high-quality affair featuring stellar performances by two veteran stars, Griffith and Sales. Sacto played a tight and poised game -- only 7 turnovers -- and stole homecourt.

Rebekkah Brunson should be shot for missing the layup after Ticha completed the schoolyard through-the-defender's-legs dribble. Nancy Lieberman should be shot for saying to Geno, "being a great defensive coach, there are two great defensive teams, aren't they?"

It's time to take the mic off of Coach Mike. The guys in the ESPN booth aren't quick enough to catch his profanity, and there were at least two audible "shits" on air. In the post-Janet Jackson world, that ain't all right. Plus, all he does is yell at the refs anyway, which wears thin.

Another in a string of "I hate the WNBA" columns, this time from comedian/sports guy Jay Mohr at SI.com.

Mohr says that the games aren't exciting enough and that there aren't enough points scored. To me, that's a fair enough point. (I even partly agree.)

But most of his column is just a rant about lesbian fans. He mocks the "lumberjacks" who watch the players with a "different type of admiration." He describes the couple sitting next to him, two women "in matching flannel shirts and motorcycle boots." (See also photo accompanying the article.) He says he was put off by all of the women who were "large and in charge, loud and proud." He jokes that he feared all of these "brutes."

It's nothing more than thinly-veiled gay bashing.

The WNBA, like any other league, is open to criticism, even ridicule. Sports columnists are paid to express an opinion, and they are encouraged to be provocative and controversial. Yet I'm always surprised that major media outlets like SI are willing to print homophobic bullshit like this.

If Cuban is correct, however, it might actually be smart to release meaningless and wildly inaccurate attendance figures in that it could throw your competitors off and lead them into strategic mistakes. Perhaps Val knew what she was doing...

There was some optimism in Connecticut yesterday as Whalen dropped her crutches and bounced around the court. "She's improved immensely," said trainer Georgia Fischer. But it's still unlikely that she'll play tonight.

The Monarchs gave some advice on what to do when your star point guard goes out with an injury. “We've found ways," Ticha Penicheiro said. "Somebody else steps up. That's our story. We have 11 players and we all contribute somehow to this team.” Of course, Derevjanik and Jamie Carey probably aren't quite as formidable as Kara Lawson and Krisin Haynie.

A true women's sports pioneer, Gunter struggled for her success in a way the other 2005 coaching inductees - Syracuse's Jim Boeheim, Connecticut's Jim Calhoun and the N.B.A.'s Hubie Brown - didn't understand. It was Chatman's privilege to make them understand, once she composed herself in the way Gunter had taught her.

We'll definitely re-evaluate her with the mind-set of can she play Wednesday or Thursday, but it's my job to tell the coaches what it looks like. The better scenario would be (for her to be available) next weekend. It gives us a little bit more time.

It's not the end of the world. We still have a great team. I'm still going to do anything I can to help the team get our goal. I feel good about what both me personally and the team has accomplished this year. Obviously we have one more goal. But I feel good about that, and our chances coming up.

The decisive moments took place in the afternoon when Kevin Peiterson lead England out of it's pre-lunch doldrums:

At one stage, England were wobbling at 127 for five and the Australians were circling, expecting the kill. Instead Pietersen took the fight to them - thrashing 38 runs off five overs after lunch in a display of belligerent, counter-attacking batting that will live long in the memory. He rode his luck - he was dropped three times - but fully deserved his maiden Test century, which included 15 fours and an Ashes-record seven sixes. Rightly, he was named man of the match.

So congratulations to the English side. It's been quite a while gents! Bravo! Well done.

More on Lindsay's injury from the Sun's trainer (via gopher5): "there's a glimmer of hope that if it settles down she might be able to play because this tiny crack is so forward" (that is, towards the front of the knee).

The print media, especially in Connecticut and Sacramento, did a nice job with the Conference Finals. All four cities sent reporters traveling. Stickney went to Sacto, Woods went to Uncasville, and both Arrington and Voison went to Houston. Connecticut had four reporters in Indy: Anthony (Courant), Brice (Bulletin), Erickson (J-I), and Griffen (Day).

All of the papers had both preview stories on game day and game reports on the day after. Which, in the every-other-day playoff format, means bylined content every day. Everything in the Sacramento Bee appeared on the sports section's front page.

Note that some of these markets that do the best are also markets that don't have an NFL or MLB team.

SportsCenter also did a decent job, especially before being swamped with weekend football action. Powell's three was #2 on top plays for Thursday.

Sunday, September 11, 2005

Sacramento rolled over Houston. The Monarchs dominated the first-half boards, led by double digits at halftime, then played well enough to hold on.

Kara Lawson led the way with an awesome first half: playing the point for the injured Penichiero, Lawson had one of her best-ever shooting nights (Van put Swoopes on her in the second half). Haynie, Lawson's sub at point, hustled and shot well.

Yo Griffith (19 points) had fun with the glass; she, Brunson and DeMya Walker made life miserable for Houston's Michelle Snow (4 points), who didn't look mentally ready for Arco Arena. Snow and DeMya got into a bizarre wrestling match over a late rebound.

Swoopes had 24 points, but took 23 shots: she looked great towards the end, but didn't get enough help.

The Monarchs have been to the conference finals four times but never won the series till last night. Ticha Penichiero: "I don't know how many of these [conference champion] T-shirts we've had to destroy over the years. It feels good to finally put one on."

Penichiero suited up but never took the floor. She says she "probably" would have played in a game three, but she's glad she won't have to: "I can get four more days to rest. No way am I going to miss the Finals. I didn't come this far just to get a T-shirt and a cap. We want some rings."

In some ways Sac's season looks more impressive than Connecticut's: the Sun had the best record (in the better conference), but the Monarchs came close and reached the finals despite losing three starters, two for big chunks of the year. (Instructive comparison: how would Connecticut look if they had to play all June without Katie Douglas, all August without Sales, and Indiana without Whalen?)

The Sun led for most of it thanks to Asjha Jones' string of first-half buckets, Lindsay Whalen's second-half zigzag drives, and (of all things) twelve-to-fifteen-footers from Margo Dydek, who played at least as well as she has all year. The Day's DiMauro apologizes for his stint as a Dydek doubter.

But Indy's sticky defense wore the Sun down: Tamika Catchings and Tully Bevilaqua hassled the Sun's backcourt into turnovers, and Catchings' late three tied everything at 60.

Connecticut then dominated overtime: a smooth Nykesha Sales trey put them up by five. Kelly Miller, 4-4 from downtown alone on Thursday, shot just 2-12 this time out despite open looks; Catch fouled out.

Nat Williams made her last-ever WNBA game a great one: 17 points, 11 boards, and a display of raw strength that put her in consistent position to score.

It was the closest sweep imaginable: both games came one play (or one whistle) away from a Fever victory. Catchings sounds irked: "Everybody always doubted us. We've never gotten the respect the Indiana Fever deserve for all the hard work we've put into it."

Coach Thibault: "We probably screwed up more plays at the end of regulation than we did all year... It wasn't aesthetically pleasing but it was fun to watch how hard we played."

Sales on the Eastern Conference title: "We were a lot more excited last year. We're excited but we realize that it defeats the purpose if we go to the championship again and lose. I think you'll see a wild side if we win the championship."

The Sun will face Sacto next week: the Monarchs press and play defense at least as well as Indiana does-- and they have more players who can score. Home advantage should help. The Sun won both reg-season matches with Sacto, though the Courant says the Monarchs won both. (Oops.)

Saturday, September 10, 2005

Ticha Penicheiro's ankle has improved, and she will suit up today. "Believe me, if I can run, I will go," she said.

The Narchs are excited to be home. Says coach Whisenant: "We'll have 10,000 people screaming at them. That's got to have some effect."

Houston is trying to stay positive. Sort of. "And they're really, really good," coach Chancellor said. "They're a really good, physical basketball team. And because of Sacramento's physical style of play, I thought from day one (of the playoffs) they would be a tough matchup for us. And it's been proven that I'm a pretty good prophet about that."

Friday, September 09, 2005

The tennis world is still buzzing about the Agassi-Blake epic from Wednesday night/Thursday morning. If you didn't stay up to see it, pray for a rain delay this weekend so they'll show it again. The tournament's conclusion may be less exciting anyway, because the man increasinly called "best ever" is still out there beating everyone else down.

Unless you're into ogling Russian teenagers, the women's side has been a little less exciting. Venus fell to Clijsters after taking out Serena in a snoozer, and Davenport folded under a mound of unforced errors.

The NLF got underway last night, and the Patriots still look like football's version of Roger Federer. We might want to nominate a sacrificial lamb from the NFC and fast-forward to the Superbowl.

Even if you don't normally watch golf, you might check this out (all weekend on the Golf Channel), because it's actually a great team sport. And after getting our pants beaten right off last time, we've taken an early lead today.